Adrian Alfieri
📍Brooklyn, NY | Founder & CEO at Verbatim - We build content engines for hypergrowth startups.
📝 Editor’s Note
When my wife told me she was going out of town with her friends from high school for 72 hours, my first thought was good for you, you deserve it. My next thought, seconds later, was “oh sh*t” my dad and I are supposed to play golf together that weekend. If she is gone, me and the two little guys are going to have a very long weekend (my 3 year old will proudly tell you he is a “mammas boy”).
However, this weekend was different. Both of my parents were kind enough to come up from Charlotte. It was very special to have them spend time with their grandkids as well as I got to spend time with them 1:1 when the boys were asleep.
I think back to the time graph from Sahil Bloom. Your time with your parents drops off a cliff when you turn 20. Which is true. I haven’t lived in Charlotte since I was 14 and thus getting a whole weekend to myself with them was very special. Love you, Mom and Dad (and thank you)!
Without further ado….
Why Adrian?
I mentioned a few months back that Adrian’s work The Proof, was a part of the initial inspiration for Rambull. Wesley Gottesman, our mutual friend then put us in touch. Adrian is a very talented and thoughtful guy who is well plugged into the start-up and wellness scene. He has had a lot of success with his company, Verbatim, which drafted off the network he created when building The Proof.
Follow Adrian on Linkedin
Self-Description
Early-stage founder who's (still) figuring it out as a he goes.
Adrian’s Recommendations
Written in his own words…
Amazon
I've used the Bear Eye Mask (originally a Tim Ferriss recommendation) for the past few years and re-up on a new one every 6 months. It is about ten bucks and just gets the job done. No fancy 'silk' masks or any extra padding. I've gifted this to my parents and friends, and everyone loves it. Worth every penny, especially while travelling to hotels that don't have blackout curtains.
Content
This book changed my life, in more ways than one. The central premise revolves around the idea of a 'shadow career' versus your true calling. The danger of your shadow career is that it's gamified, you're very skilled at it, and more often than not, it's highly profitable. But it is not what you're truly meant to be doing. I re-read this book (it's a quick read) almost every year to remind myself what's my real calling in life, and how I should re-orient my time and priorities as a result.
Product
I take these electrolyte packs (orange is my go-to flavor) every morning and every afternoon around 3PM when I start to fade a bit and lose focus. There aren't many supplements or wellness products out there (aside from caffeine) that you can see the results within a few minutes. My body feels better almost immediately, and my mind is sharper. Really can't recommend these enough. The best part is they don't have any of the sugar or BS filler ingredients of LiquidIV or other electrolyte brands.
Digital Tool
I've replaced 99% of my Google searches with the Perplexity iPhone app (and browser tool - perplexity.ai). Sometimes I'll use the GPT-esque functions from a work context, but my preferred use case is just a replacement for Google. Over the past decade, SEO has completely rewired the Google algorithm and stuffed the top pages with useless and sales-focused hyperlinks. Pair that with paid keywords, and the first couple pages of Google are almost unusable. Perplexity changes that completely - whether it's finding a quick work-related answer or just following my curiosity to plan a weekend trip.
Well Being
Morning stretching
Absolute game-changer and only takes about 5 minutes while I'm listening to a podcast. I'm an afternoon-workout guy, so I still need to wake my body up in the morning. The worst feeling in the world is waking up, showering, and locking straight into work without moving my body or getting any sun. After I shower, I rotate through upper body and lower body stretching and mobility without anything fancy - no yoga mat or foam rollers, just the basics. I've followed this morning stretching routine for the past few years and it's worked wonders for my baseline body 'feel' throughout the day.
In tandem, my vice is that I'm a workaholic - and I love it. Once you've gamified your work to the point that you've risen up in your 'video game' level and have a tangible skillset, it gets even more fun. It still blows my mind that you can drive enormous impact, really help people in their profession (for me that's early-stage founders and marketers), and generate profit from simply logging onto your computer in the morning and focusing for long amount of time. From that lens of a game, I'm very much addicted to work - and it's a hell of a lot of fun.
Watch
This is my current bingeworthy show that I've deep in Season 3 on and have another 10 seasons to go. For some reason it's a bit under the radar with friends of mine and few people have watched it - but I can't recommend it more. If you're a fan of Lost, this is right up your alley. It's dark and bleak at times but highlights the humanity of the survivor groups in really beautiful ways at times. And just a lot of fun to watch every other night. Highly recommend at least the pilot and a few episodes (on Netflix now).
Food & Drink
Beef Bowl
Bear with me here - this isn't the most exciting recipe in the world, but I eat this almost every day for lunch (and sometimes for dinner). Ground beef, Arborio rice, some guac and salsa...and that's basically it. Nothing fancy, takes about 5 minutes to make, and hits the spot every time. From a nutritional lens, it can pack anywhere from 50-80 grams of protein along with some carbs from the white rice. If you have a busy schedule but want to stay in shape, this is probably the fastest, highest quality meal you can make - and I never get bored of it.
Professional
Apple Notes
I went through the midwit meme curve of shifting from Apple Notes > to a Frankenstein combination of Evernote, Roam, Notion, and Airtable. Now I'm back to Apple Notes and loving it. Simply, effective, without any bells and whistles of 'automation' or 'AI'. I love tools that just get the job done, and Apple Notes is exactly that.
Gift
I was gifted the first Pearce Brown book in the Red Rising series a few years ago, and it's still my #1 giftable book for Sci-Fi fans. He's on book 7 of the series now, and somehow, it's only gotten better - and book 1 was damn good. Classic Space Opera with tinges of the Hunger Games. Genuinely my favorite all-time sci-fi read. Can't recommend this book more.
Music
YouTube Playlists
On the go, I'm always listening to a podcast or music on Spotify - but in the morning during focused work time - I frequently have a YouTube mix pulled up from a house DJ. Check out Chris Luno, Keinemusik, or Lane 8 live sets or mixes.
Travel
One of my favorite parts of Long Island that for some reason most people haven't visited. It is a few minutes from Sag Harbor on the North Fork of the island, and significantly quieter and more of a community. Much more of a low-key beach town vibe than the rest of the Hamptons. Highly recommend checking it out if you haven't been.
Plug
I'm currently running Verbatim, a full-service content agency specifically built for fast-growing startups.
Want to reach out to Adrian? Please reach out via email - adrian@verbatimlabs.com
P.S. from Rambull — My mom is providing a ‘guest’ recommendation from her time with me last weekend. She was recently gifted a canvas, farmers market tote bag from her friend Posey. It has great pockets that easily store bottles that can be unwieldy in bags without compartments.
The LMNT recommendation is heavily seconded here. They have a pretty much instant impact when I take them. Though I personally steer clear of the mango chilli flavour as the combination of sweet, heat and salt first thing in the morning can be a little difficult to stomach!
Is there a link to a specific morning stretching routine?